Freelance vs. Full Time

The following would make me more inclined to join a company full-time:

1) Freedom. 9-5 sucks and unless you are customer facing, makes little sense. Let me work from home, or come in 11 - 7,  7-3 etc. instead.

2) Growth. Set aside a day to allow your programmers to work on personal (related) projects (a 'la google), or to help building open source products (like Plone).

3) Interest. So many big agencies have great working conditions, but boring, demoralising work. I know it pays the bills, but I don't really want to be working on flash based shampoo sites for the rest of my life. It's not particularly inspiring either.

4) Reason. Give me shares or performance related benefits and I'm more likely to want it to succeed. Perhaps mix this with point 2 and offer to fund employees personal projects (for a decent share in return).

5) Money. As long as the salary isn't taking the piss this doesn't bother me that much. I'd go as far to say that getting the other points right, makes the salary worth twice as much in comparison to higher paying, less switched on companies

6) Job security.

7) People. Hire people who know what they are talking about. Don't forget that 1 bad 'un can cancel out the effects of many good 'uns (especially when they are further up the food chain).

Problem is, freelancing offers 1-5 in spades. Unless I really pine after points 6 & 7 I'd find it hard to go back to full-timing. You've got to make working for you, look better than working for me ;)

Funnily enough, the only full-time job to interest me recently was based in the US, where I think there are many more switched on companies offering the kinds of benefits listed above.

Comments

[tashacres]

Hi, I just found you/your blog through LinkedIn.
I like your thinking. I also think that we have may have a contracted job that may fulfil your requirements of a job. That is, if you're interested in moving to the darkside... even for a year.

We have a project that's just getting started and we're looking for a web developer who's devoted to our cause, progressive in web creativity as well as problem solving and who wants to get involved in the forming of the project as much as building the site.

If you're interested in talking more drop me an email.

[Josef Davies-Coates]

Hi Jon,

You should join the Hub+ team (the IT team for http://www.the-hub.net )

That way you get all you want without having to join the dark side at all - yay! :)

Smiles,

Josef.